Founder Profile

Pew is an independent nonprofit organization – the sole beneficiary of seven individual trusts established between 1948 and 1979 by four generous and committed siblings. Learn more about one of our founders: Mary Ethel Pew.

Technology has changed how people consume news, as well as the process of gathering it. Information is now almost instantaneous and available anywhere in the world. And news has been democratized so that voices outside the mainstream can be heard.

This is healthy for democracy but is an earthquake for the business of journalism. Newspaper circulation is dropping, newsroom staffs are shrinking, and ad revenue is declining. Pew tracks these changes through its annual state of the news media reports, providing fact-based analysis of the growth of digital news sites, the purchase of major journalism institutions by entrepreneurs, the use of mobile devices to access news, the mixing of news and marketing through sponsor-generated content, and other trends in journalism.

July 12, 2018Audio and Podcasting Fact SheetThe audio news sector in the U.S. is split by modes of delivery: traditional terrestrial (AM/FM) radio and digital formats such as online radio and podcasting.